Slave
by Artemis Daarken
Summary: Kyo is a slave. One of the special animal human types that breeders thought of.  This is his life, his story. Character death.
1. Beatings

Kyo was not a happy person. His current emotional state would most likely be described best by annoyed, uncomfortable, and very, very angry. Currently, he was chained to a girl who smelled like she was one of those stupid rats and was cowering in a corner, crying her stupid eyes out over her stupid mother, who probably didn't care about the stupid girl anyway. That forced Kyo to in the corner too, and they had him in close proximity to a rat which filled him with even more contempt and hatred for the whole species. They, though Kyo hated to associate himself with the rats in anyway, were trapped in a dark wooden cart, jammed full with prisoners of one species or another, all on their way to be sold to some snobbish rich people as pets and manual laborers. Most of them had animal of some kind in them, though Kyo didn't know how in God's name they did that. Everyone was chained to someone of another species to avoid escapes. Species stayed together- and did not associate with any other.

Kyo looked around, his cats eyes helping to pierce thorough the gloom, and saw about an even number of girls and boys, boys for manual labor, and girls for dolls and, well he felt a tiny amount of pity for those bought by men who couldn't get some from their own wives. Kyo didn't see any more cats, but then again, they were generally hard to control and smart, so not many people wanted them, and not many were made. They were just that awesome. He saw many snakes and rats, as those were in fashion right now, and bunnies were ever popular. Dogs were used most often for manual labor, and he did see a few around the other end of the cart. Oxen were similar, and there was a clump in the corner opposite him. The cursed rat was really starting to get on his nerves. Crying like that. Didn't she know that her own mother didn't care? None of their mothers or fathers cared. They were just off making more children. Stupid girl, they were off to be sold. Didn't she know that it was a whole lot worse than losing a family member that didn't care about you anyway?

Suddenly, before Kyo could voice his rather rude opinions, the cart jerked to a halt and the doors were thrown open by a red faced beefy man armed with a leather whip. Kyo enjoyed a moment of amusement, and a small smile, thinking of how the oxen must feel, whipped by the skin of one of their distant relatives. Then a sting on his cheek brought him back to the present.

"Something funny fur ball? There's nothing funny about where you're going." That was the red faced man and his whip. Mustn't forget the whip. That was a status symbol of those who owned and traded slaves, the whip showing they had control of you and you couldn't do anything about it. "Didn't you hear me fur face? Answer when a master speaks to you!" He was shouting again, and there was that same nickname. Creative man, wasn't he?

"Nothing funny but your face sir, you might want to watch that though, you look like you are about to have a stroke, and that would be unpleasant. Not for me, mind, but you might need someone to tell you, seeing that you are to stupid to notice on your own." Kyo replied coolly and with utmost politeness. That might not have been the best idea, seeing as the man's face had been getting darker and now resembled a dark purple, throbbing bruise.

"Well this one has a smart mouth, eh? I'll just have to fix that for any owners you might have." The man then led the slaves out of the cart, and sent the rest on with his other whip bearing comrades, unlocking the rat girl, and fastened her onto an ox, leaving just him and Kyo. The red faced man then took off Kyo's scratchy shirt and made him kneel in the dusty road. Kyo felt sweat trickle down his tan back because it really was hot out. It's not like he was sweating from nervous apprehension.

Ten lashes wasn't so bad, he could take it, and he sensed the man behind him, silently waiting for him to talk, or yell, but Kyo wouldn't because he was competitive, and he couldn't let the man win.

Twenty lashes were starting to really hurt, but he still stayed silent, because the man couldn't win.

Thirty lashes really tore his back apart, but Kyo wouldn't say a word, because that would make it worse, and the man would get pleasure knowing he beat Kyo, but Kyo wouldn't be beaten.

Forty lashes and Kyo's vision swam, and he began to forget why he wasn't talking. Shouldn't people scream when they are in pain? But no he couldn't do that…

He lost count after that but it went on after that. His vision tunneled and he only knew pain and the vague sense that he shouldn't say anything, but for the life of him he couldn't remember why, and it was important.

He then pulled the cloth back over Kyo's back, and the only thought going through his head was _ow, _but he didn't make a sound, even though he forgot the reason, and now the man was pulling his arm and his back _hurt. _He was walking but he could barely see where, and sweat was tricking down his back because it was hot, but the salt stung, and his shirt stung, and there was wetness traveling down his legs, and that was _blood._

Eventually he got to the town they were heading to, the whole time the man was grumbling and pushing him and that _hurt_ so much that he stumbled, but he didn't talk because that was important, and he didn't think he was ever going to remember the reason why. The man- what did he do to infuriate the man again? –pushed him onto a bed and called for a healer. The last thing Kyo saw was neatly cropped black hair and purple eyes before he passed out because he was on his back and that _hurt_.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Remember that reviews feed kittens and flames kick puppies! **


	2. Slave Docter

When Hatori had woken up that morning, he was in a pleasant mood. Then the reality of the situation came crashing back onto him. Kana had left him. She had died. It was sad that the revelation had not sunk in for all these years and he had to wake up every morning, thinking that she was still there, his personal spring.

The event was burned into his memory forever, in crystal detail. She had died saving one of those new animal slaves from dying. The young boy, a snake, was being beat to death for some small, most likely fictional misdeed. She had thrown herself in front of the man and screamed at him to stop. The man had snarled at her and raised the whip again. Hatori had not been able to get in front of her, or to heal her when the heavy rawhide whip struck her and crushed her windpipe, rendering her unable to breathe. Hatori had attacked the man with all of the grief and anger in his body, and nearly killed him. Later, when he was more rational, he bought the young boy, Ayame, and he still works as his assistant. It turned out that Ayame was only two years younger than Hatori.

Then Ayame appeared in the doorway, all silver hair and fine clothing. Hatori treated him much like a brother, and the feelings were mutual. Ayame treated him in a infuriating, casual way that most slave masters wouldn't allow. In fact, many would punish Ayame for him if the thought he had just left his whip behind, or if they were in a bad mood. The fact of the matter was that Hatori didn't own a whip and if he had any say, never would.

"Are you on this planet still? Because if you aren't, bring me with you, it seems like a fun place." That would be Ayame. The annoying diva he was.

"No, I still reside on this planet, and if I was on another I wouldn't bring you with me, because I would have gone there to be away from you." Hatori was still sad and angry from the memory that had ruined his morning and Ayame's ever present _cheerfulness_.

"You're thinking about what happened aren't you?" Ayame's voice was soft and sad, and Hatori felt bad because he knew that Ayame blamed himself for Kana's death. "Well," and we are back to cheerfulness, except this was strained slightly, and faked, "there is another shipment of slaves coming in, do you want to help out this time, or do you want to take the night off? You know no one will blame you, you work a regular job and help all of us unfortunates out." That's right, today more slaves were arriving, and ever since _that day_ he had used his abilities to heal incoming slaves before they were sold. That was the least he could do to in her memory, and in memory of her bright and kind spirit.

He wearily hauled himself out of bed and out his bedroom door, with Ayame behind him, chattering cheerfully.

"I'm going to need another haircut soon." He mentioned absentmindedly as Ayame prepared breakfast and began serving it to them both. "It is beginning to obstruct my vision. That's a problem."

Ayame glanced over at his purple eyed friend. "You look tired. You sure you're up for today?"

Hatori shook his head. "Can't. I should anyway; I canceled all appointments and need to do something. Besides, I have a bad feeling about today. Like someone is really going to need me. "

Ayame looked thoughtful for a second, and then realized that it could give him wrinkles and stopped. He shrugged "Alright, if you're sure. I don't want to not go and find out that someone died because you were right, but didn't go."

They both got up from the table and gathered Hatori's medical gear in silence, except for when Ayame stubbed his toe on air and gave a very girly shriek of pain and Hatori laughed at him. They headed out the door and toward the village square. It was just after noon and very hot out. However they didn't make it far before they saw a man pushing a slave boy, shown by his bright orange hair into town. The boy appeared to be only semiconscious and in a great deal of pain, with blood running freely from his back. Ayame and Hatori looked at each other and made a decision. They followed the man, and were unsurprised to find themselves in front of the building that hurt slaves were cared for before they were sold.

As they walked though the pseudo hospital, they saw many slaves, all with their characteristic bright hair, lying in various states of healing. They heard a man call loudly for a healer, and Hatori rushed over to the man. It was the one from before, and sure enough, there was the boy with the orange hair lying with his _back down_. That was a problem because that would put him in considerable pain, and he would probably pass out soon. Sure enough, just as Hatori was standing over the boy to flip him over, the boys eyes, a bloody scarlet, closed.

Hatori flipped him over quickly, and whistled softly at the extensive damage to the boys back. It didn't look like there was any skin was left on him from the bottom of the shoulder blades to the bottom of the spine. Even above or below that the skin was in strips. It was a miracle that the boy managed to walk. Ayame noticed something else, and mentioned it to Hatori.

"Shouldn't he be making noise? In the street, he should have been screaming, and with his back down on the bed even more so. That's not natural."

"No." Hatori agreed, "It's not natural. Perhaps he is mute, or was traumatized into being mute."

They both were silent then, pondering this, as Ayame sat, and Hatori bandaged the boys back. If you could call it that.

"We shall see what happens. Perhaps we will see this boy again." Hatori stated after disinfecting to mess that was the slaves back.

"We shall see." Ayame agreed gravely.

**A/N: Yay! Hatori! He's my favorite character. This WILL NOT BE A YAOI. I love yaoi, but I just feel like it has no place in this story. But alas, not AyamexHatori. It will not happen, don't ask about it.**

**BTW: You Know Who I Am: Yes I do know who you are and I am very annoyed at you. Plus, I know you are probably laughing as you are reading this now. We will have words later.**


	3. Mistrust and Anger

Kyo woke up with people talking over him. He wondered when had he grown short, or was he in the land of giants? When he finally got the bright idea to open his eyes, they felt like someone had shoved sand in them, and his vision was blurry, so he only saw in colored blobs.

There was a white colored blob, with black on top, leaning over him. There was another blob, off-white this time, but with brown on top. That blob was talking to a much smaller blue colored blob, that one with brown on top too. There was a purple blob standing next to the white blob, with white on top, leading down to the waist. The rest of the surroundings were a dull, depressing gray.

The off-white blob was saying to the blue blob, "Tohru, I know that you want a slave, but is it a good idea to get one so badly damaged?"

The blue colored blob, Tohru, answered. "Yeah, if I don't get him than a cruel person might get to him and Hatori says that 'If someone even thinks about whipping in the next month he'll die.' I don't want that to happen, so daddy, can we please buy him?"

The white blob's black top bobbled up and down. "Tohru's right, Shigure, even bringing him home in a carriage might reopen the wound."

Kyo's vision was getting clearer and he could now make out that the blobs were people. All of them expect Tohru were male, but the purple's long silver hair had deceived him for a little bit. Wait, silver hair? That meant the one wearing purple was a slave, for they were the only ones with extravagant hair colors. It was so that they were recognizable in a crowd and pretty.

So Tohru was talking to Shigure, her dad into buying, him? Hatori was a doctor, presumably the one that had fixed him up. Why was the slave here? Who's his owner? Certainly not the girl, as she was asking her dad for _him_, but either one of the males could own another male, for they were all of similar age.

He was bursting with a thousand questions, but something deep inside his mind told him not to speak, not to make noise or there would be consequences and harsh ones at that.

But at that moment, the slave noticed that he was awake, and took it upon himself to notify the rest of the gathering. "Everyone, he's awake! Hello, my name is Ayame and over there in Hatori, the girl is Tohru and the man standing next to her is Shigure. Hatori and I brought Shigure and Tohru because they just let their last slave, Yuki, go and they need a new one to help Tohru around the house." The only thing that Kyo paid attention to in the entire mini speech was the fact that Shigure and Tohru had let their last slave go. That might mean he could go as well.

His next thought stopped him cold. What if what Ayame had meant that the last slave had died? But that wasn't the impression that he got from these people. Then again, it was possible to hide the greatest evils behind empty promises and false smiles.

Dear God, what if they were like the other man? All Kyo could recollect from the memory was fear, _pain_, and fuzzy picture of a red face. But he knew that regular humans weren't good news. Why was Ayame working for them? Did they tame him, like people tamed tigers? That thought made Kyo shiver.

The whole time he had been thinking these thoughts, everyone in the room had been watching the expressions flit across his face, partially shielded by his fiery orange hair. From hope, to fear, to pain, to disgust, and then he looked up and saw them watching him.

He wiped his face blank of all emotion, knowing that he had showed too much to these strangers, dangerous strangers. Evil strangers with their tamed slaves, no longer willing to fight back, he swore to himself that he would never become like that.

"What's your name?" Tohru asked. Kyo could hear the caution and hesitance in her voice and reveled in it. He knew that expected him to reply and refused her, both out of spite and his new fear of speaking.

Hatori and Ayame glanced at each other. They were so familiar, it sickened Kyo. Why didn't Ayame know that humans were bad, evil, not to be trusted and looked at with anything other than disdain or anger? Hatori began speaking and Kyo turned his unwavering and angry gaze on the man.

"Well, it looks like Shigure and Tohru are going to take you home, but be careful about any strenuous activity or any activity at all. You should wait at least a month before you walk more than a few yards, and don't even consider running." Was that a simple warning, or was it a subtle warning not to run away? Hatori went on about other things, but it was clear that it was more for his new owners benefit than his own, so he had stopped paying attention.

Instead, he turned his eyes on Tohru. She looked like she could be easily flustered, so he stared at her with all of the contempt and anger he had, which was quite a lot. She glanced at him once, and flinched, but held his gaze. Kyo knew how intimidating he could be when his red eyes were staring at someone, and used it to his full advantage right here. Tohru backed up a step and bent her back, a clear submissive sign, and Kyo was satisfied. He removed his gaze from her pitiful form, and gazed at the wall, seemingly bored.

He knew the sudden change in attitude would confuse her and reveled in it. He might be these peoples slave, but that did not mean that he would like it, or that he would go without a fight. He would just bide his time, and then, when he was healed and they weren't expecting it, head for the hills.

**A/N: Hope you like this one. I tried to put a little bit of Kyo's problems in this one. Kisses for all of my reviewers. **

**To Lilah: Please no more pointless reviews, even if I'm sitting next to you when you are typing them.**


	4. Final Freedom

Kyo had been working at the Honda household for a week, and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Tohru regularly helped the slaves with household tasks, and Shigure never wore a whip, and both of them went out of their way to be kind to their slaves. But Kyo wouldn't talk. Something deep inside his brain, a lesson learned in blood and pain told him not to speak, not to trust humans, for they were all plotting his eventual demise.

Shigure, for lack of a better name, had begun calling him Sasori, and that just slowly fueled Kyo's rage. How dare this man try to convince him through kind words and a smile that everything Kyo knew as fact, definite, unyielding fact. He did not speak, though Tohru had been asking him to speak, begging him as if she actually cared. There was no way she would make him speak, and she probably didn't care that much anyway.

At the moment, Kyo was chopping wood. The methodical labor was soothing, no thinking involved. The wood was not plotting to destroy him, and the ax would not suddenly turn against him without any thought behind the matter. Kyo fell into a trance, where all that mattered was the wood, the ax and every diminishing pile of logs to be chopped. When he finished, he looked at the sky, silently sad that his private sanctuary had been ruined by such a trivial matter. The sky was a scarlet glory.

He had started on the task at dawn.

This was just another trick, another ploy of his 'masters' to try to get him to speak, to admit weakness. He would not do it. He had missed breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and his hard labor had taken up much of his energy. It would have to last him until tomorrow's breakfast. He would not ask for food, and admit that he was hungry.

Kyo could not fall asleep that night. Every time sleep was about to overtake him, his stomach would send him another twinge of pain, reminding him of his missed meals. When dawn finally lit the sky with its pale pinks and oranges, he struggled out of bed, and stumbled down to the kitchen to receive his orders for the day.

"Sasori, I would like you to clean upper rooms of the house." Tohru smiled at him and moved on to the next slave, a child named Kisa that was saved from an abusive master. As if any masters were better or worse. You are still owned by someone else, not your own person, denied of the most basic rights.

He headed up to the top of the house, and lost himself in cleaning and exploring the unused upper floors of the house. He settled into another trance, this one of furniture polish and dusting cloths, but very similar. When he glanced outside, he saw a boy with black and white hair standing in the forest. He was undoubtedly another slave; no one had hair like that and was human. Was he free? Kyo had certainly never seen him around the house.

The boy was looking straight at him. Kyo glared back. The boy's shoulders shook, as if in laughter, and he sped away from the house.

Kyo continued working. The next time he looked outside, coming out from one of the inner rooms, the sky was another shade of bloody scarlet. Great, he had missed another three meals, that couldn't be healthy. Kyo couldn't bring himself to care.

That night Kyo couldn't even think of sleeping with all of the thoughts in his head. He thought of Tohru's deceiving smile, the other slave, the fake name, Shigure, Hatori, Ayame, everything. It all just spun around faster and faster. He shook his head, as if that would shake the thoughts right out of his head. He tried vainly to push the thoughts of those evil, plotting people out of his head, and focused on the escaped slave.

The boy had black and white hair, and looked as if he knew where he was and what he was doing. That was madness. If Kyo was the one escaped, he would run away as fast as he could and never, ever look back. The boy had looked right at him, so he had good eyesight.

Kyo rolled over onto his shoulder. These thoughts were getting him nowhere, and he needed at the rest he could get for the coming day. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, sleep always eluded his grasp, slipping through his fingers as the last moment.

Kyo stood up, and began walking through the house. Just as he neared the front door, it opened a hair's width. All of his muscles locked and he stood as still as a statue. The door slowly opened, gliding soundlessly on oiled hinges.

The boy from before stood in front of Kyo, reveled by the fully opened door, and the shining light of a gibbous moon. He gestured to Kyo, urging him to come closer. Kyo consented from sheer curiosity, and the boy shoved him out of the open door.

Kyo's eyes widened. He was going to get out that easily? It seemed unreal, impossible. But the boy grabbed his arm and pulled him down the street. The boy thrust him into an alleyway and through a shadowed door.

Then he spoke, "My name's Hatsuharu. That's all you need to know about me." Kyo was silent. "I'm getting you out of this town buddy, so as soon as I fix you up, head for the hills, alright?' Kyo nodded. The boy's speech was hurried but not unkind. "Didn't expect to find you that easy, but we all take luck where we can get it."

Hatsuharu thrust a cloth bag at Kyo. "Now scat."

Kyo didn't need any more encouragement. He ran out of the room, and through the streets of the town, unconsciously following the same route that he was brought here on. He was nearing the end of the town, he could see the tree tops, freedom was nearly there-.

A cold voice rang out in the darkness. "Where are you going boy? Shouldn't you be with your master?" Kyo shook his head. "Why not?" The voice was dangerous, the epitome of the reason Kyo did not trust humans.

Again, Kyo shook his head. The man was not pleased. "Come here, boy." Kyo sauntered over, being as arrogant on the outside as he was not inside. This man gave him a bad feeling, like a very nasty odor covered by a sweet fragrance. The man grabbed the front of Kyo's shirt, and dragged him into what was presumably the man's house.

There was no sound except the crack of a whip and when that ended, a sinister, humorless chuckle. It was over.

**A/N: Hope you liked it. Cookies to anyone who can guess what happened and who was 'the man'. Toodles**

**Lilah: THERE IS NOTHING PERVERTED ABOUT MY STORY!**


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